My Dayspring sweater is finished and I love it! It’s cosy, comfortable, and colourful, and will be perfect for winter walks and choir practices in chilly halls. The pattern is Dayspring by Ainur Berkimbayeva, available here on Ravelry and in Pom Pom Quarterly Issue 36 (Spring 2021). I made the cropped version in Size 4 using stash oddments and leftovers, mostly Outlaw Yarn Bohemia Sport (a polwarth wool/alpaca/possum blend, now discontinued) and the sturdier John Arbon Textiles Yarnadelic Sport (corriedale wool) for the sleeves and mattress stitch side seams.

The pattern includes yardage requirements for each section of the sweater, so I was able to plan where to place each of the colours without risking running out. In the photos below you can see another clever detail - the applied crochet chain which runs along the sleeves and shoulders. This has the bonus effect of helping to prevent the sleeves from stretching out too much, which is extra important for my sweater because I used a yarn with alpaca in the mix, and alpaca is notorious for stretching under the influence of gravity.

I’m also wearing a pair of Glebe Pants which I sewed up in December and wore to my family’s Christmas Day feast. For this pair (my second) I used linen chambray fabric and did a sway back adjustment by taking a small wedge out of the back pattern piece. I also managed to match up the patterned fabric nicely along the outer leg seams, which I’m proud of!

Project Comfortable

In January it’s common for knitters, crocheters, and sewists to plan a set of projects that they hope to complete over the course of the year. I’ve made these kinds of plans before and never got very far through my list, partly because design samples take up the bulk of my crafting time, and partly because I change my mind freely and frequently! But I got thinking, and for the purpose of prioritising what I really want to make and wear this year, I came up with a list of 12 projects. Some are big and some are smaller and quicker, and they include WIPs, new knits, mending and altering, and new sewing projects.

My list for 2024:

Knit WIP: Dayspring sweater (Ravelry project page) - done!
Knit WIP: Bubble Cardigan (Ravelry project page)
Knit: Anyday Sweatshirt (Ravelry link) in black wool/cotton yarn
Knit: Partner Pullover (Ravelry link) in black wool yarn + oatmeal merino/possum yarn
Mend: pyjama pants x2 (patch or seam rips, replace cuff patch)
Mend: dressing gown (patch or seam cat-induced rip)
Alter: shorter mauve trackpants
Sew: Lobethal Shirt in black & white linen/cotton fabric (wearable muslin)
Sew: Lobethal Shirt II in black & white cotton fabric
Sew: Glebe Pants III in yellow linen fabric
Sew: Sculthorpe Pants in black viscose/linen fabric (wearable muslin)
Sew: Sculthorpe Pants II in black cotton twill fabric

Each of the 12 on my list will use stash yarn or fabric, but I may need to purchase matching thread or buttons for a couple of them.

This list feeds into an ongoing personal project of mine which I call Project Comfortable, which has the overall goal of fine-tuning and filling the gaps in my wardrobe with a focus on comfort, usefulness, and fun. Because I have a hard time tracking down ready-made clothes that meet my needs (well-fitting in my size, in natural fibres, non-restrictive, and gender-affirming), I need to make many of them myself. I’m so glad it’s easier to find suitable patterns these days, ones which tick my boxes and make me excited to make and wear them!

If you’d curious about how I got back into sewing again after several years’ hiatus, you can read about it in this post from last August: Sewing Adventures: Beginning again.